US Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Bill

The U.S. Senate voted 86-11 on Friday to pass a sweeping Russia sanctions bill, sending the measure to the House when lawmakers return in September, Politico reported.

The legislation, championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, would give the White House more leverage against Moscow as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump has signaled he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk, according to Politico.

The bill would impose mandatory sanctions on Russia’s leadership and energy sector, as well as on abetters of Russia’s defense industry and the so-called shadow fleet, with the stated aim of curbing cash flows to Moscow’s war chest. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said before the vote: “The momentum is on Ukraine’s side” and “Now is the time to put more pressure on Putin.”

Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut first introduced the measure in April 2025 and spent months negotiating with the White House, which sought more control over sanctions targets and severity. The revised bill gives the president broad authority to waive sanctions with a written certification that doing so is “in the national interests of the United States,” and lawmakers added language extending certain Iran sanctions after a demand from Trump.

A tariff provision remains a central dispute. The bill would authorize the White House to impose 100 percent tariffs on top buyers of Russian oil and on countries facilitating sanctions evasion, while an amendment by Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Wyden to remove that language failed 64-32 on Friday.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks and Rep. Don Beyer said in a joint statement after the vote that the current bill text was “unacceptable,” citing the broad waiver authority and tariff powers granted to the White House. They said they would “continue to seek a path forward that remedies this bill’s flaws.”